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That same scenario and question applies to Haditha. It was not just the Marines who stood accused, but all of our troops were painted and smeared by a very wide media brush. Words and phrases such as "massacre," "war criminals," "mercenaries" and "in cold blood," covered our front pages and evening newscasts for weeks. Who in that same media has reported the dropped or reduced charges against those Marines? Where is the balance in that coverage?

Haditha ping.

Article on the media and the military with HADITHA as one of the prime examples of their DISTORTIONS of information.

This was all caused by Marine Corps Commandant Hagee & Unnamed other military sources in the chain of command or working for them going to a man they KNEW would take the information public.

It was not caused by Time's misreporting.

Had everyone just said the proper thing, "The Jury's still out on the Time report, and an investigation is ongoing. Our Marines are always presumed innocent."

Such a simple handling of this case would have prevented the frenzy that the military caused through Murtha.

Not just Undue Command Influence, but also an Impossibility of Seating an Impartial Court Martial.

You’re absolutely right, xzins. The Time magazine cover story was published in March 2006. Haditha didn’t explode as a media story until May, when Murtha gave his first press conference.

Murtha’s gift to the media was to remove the word alleged from their stories. Murtha made it open season on the Marines (and Murtha’s real targets, Rumsfeld and Bush) by saying there was no question they had committed murder.

Political opportunism (by Murtha and anti-Rumsfeld forces in the military) brought us where we are.

Such a simple handling of this case would have prevented the frenzy that the military caused through Murtha.

Maybe so, but papers, magazines and networks kept repeating Murtha's accusations. They were complicit in promoting his agenda.

Why have so many in the media been reluctant to report — as liberal, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has finally admitted — that the surge is working and our troops are succeeding.

Hey, I heard Barak Obama in the Democrat Presidential debate claim that the 2006 election was the reason things have calmed down in Iraq. The "Awakening" occurred because Iraqis realized we may leave Iraq when Americans elected a Democratic congress. Didn't hear much reporting about Obama's claim that the military surge had nothing to do with the calm.